Yarn holding device

ABSTRACT

A yarn holding device is provided for holding and carrying a spool or skein of yarn by a person while knitting and/or crocheting. The device can hang downwardly from the arm or hand of the person while providing a supply of yarn to the person while knitting. The device has a handle in the form of a ring that can hang from the arm of the person. A shaft extends from the ring with a length to carry the skein of yarn. A sleeve in mounted on the shaft and carries the yarn during use. The sleeve is rotatable on the shaft to feed the yarn. A removable base is coupled to the bottom end of the shaft for removing the sleeve from the shaft and for positioning the sleeve with the yarn of the shaft. An eyelet is provided on the ring to feed the yarn from the skein to the person during use.

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) ofprovisional application No. 61/064,195 filed Feb. 21, 2008 which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a yarn holding device that caneasily be held by a person while knitting or crocheting. The inventionis particularly directed to a yarn holding device that hangs on the armof the user while knitting or crocheting to provide a supply of yarn tothe person.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

During knitting or crocheting, the spool or skein of yarn can oftenbecome tangled. To prevent the yarn from becoming tangled, the yarn isoften retained in the bag or other container. The yarn can also beattached to a spooling device.

One prior device to hold the yarn during knitting is disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 5,975,458 to Goldthreate. This device includes a base having ahandle and a plurality of support posts on the base. A spool having theyarn wound thereon is placed over one of the posts.

Another device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,125,267 to Bekan whichincludes a ball shaped yarn holding member. The yarn is fed through anopening in the ball to supply the yarn while knitting. A bracelet isattached to the ball so the ball can be carried and worn during use.

Although the prior devices have been useful for their intended purpose,there is a continuing need for an improved yarn holding device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a yarn holding device that can beeasily held by the user while knitting or crocheting. The invention isparticularly directed to a yarn holding device that hangs on the arm ofthe user while knitting or crocheting.

The yarn holding device of the invention includes a shaft attached to abase for holding a spool or skein of yarn. A ring is attached to one endof the shaft having an opening sufficient to allow the user to extendtheir arm through for holding and suspending the device during use. Thering includes an eyelet for feeding the yarn from the spool to the user.

One aspect of the invention is to provide a yarn holding device having ashaft and a sleeve on the shaft where the sleeve holds the yarn duringuse. The sleeve is able to rotate easily on the shaft while feeding theyarn through the eyelet during use.

These and other aspects of the invention are basically attained byproviding a yarn holding device having a ring hanging on the arm of auser during use and a shaft extending from the ring. The ring includesan eyelet extending outwardly from the outer edge of the ring. A spoolor skein of yarn is positioned on a hollow sleeve which is mounted onthe shaft and is rotatable with respect to the shaft. A base is attachedto the end of the shaft to retain the sleeve on the shaft during use.The yarn is fed through the eyelet to supply the yarn to the user whileknitting or crocheting.

These and other aspects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the invention and the annexeddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following is a brief description of the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is side elevational view of the yarn holding device showing theyarn supported on the device and the yarn fed through an eyelet in thedevice;

FIG. 2 is perspective view in partial cross section showing the yarn onthe device;

FIG. 3 is side view of the device in partial cross section;

FIG. 4 is an exploded side view of the device; and

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the yarn being mounted on the sleeve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is particularly directed to a yarn holding device thathangs on the arm of the user while knitting or crocheting so that theyarn can be fed to the person knitting from the skein while the skein isretained on the device.

Referring to the drawings, the yarn holding device 10 of the inventionincludes a handle in the form of a ring 12, a shaft 14, a sleeve 16 anda base 18. Ring 12 as shown in FIG. 1 has an opening 20 with a dimensionfor allowing a user to extend their arm and/or hand though the openingso the device can hang on the arm of the user during use. In theembodiment shown, ring 12 has a substantially circular shape although inother embodiments, the ring can have any shape or size that enables theuser to carry and support the yarn. In preferred embodiments, the ringcan hang on the user's arm during use so the user has both hands freefor knitting and/or crocheting. The device preferably hangs downwardlyfrom the arm of the person during use in the position shown in FIG. 1.

Ring 12 includes an eyelet 22 for receiving the yarn 24 during use. Asshown, the eyelet 22 is provided on the end of a leg 26 so that theeyelet is spaced from the ring 12. The length of the leg 26 and thespacing of the eyelet from the ring can vary depending on the needs ofthe user. In one alternative embodiment, the eyelet can be contiguouswith the ring 12. The eyelet 22 has an opening 28 with a dimensionsufficient to feed the yarn 24 from a spool or skein 30 to the userwithout binding.

The shaft 14 is attached to the ring 12 and extends radially outwardlyfrom the ring. In the embodiment shown, the shaft 14 is a separateelement that is attached to the ring 12 by a screw 32. Ring 12 has anaperture 34 extending radially through the ring 12 and an extension 36shown in FIG. 2. The screw 32 extends through a hole 38 in the extension36 and is threaded into one end of the hole 38. The shaft 14 has atransverse hole 40 through which the screw passes for attaching theshaft 14 to the ring 12. The shaft 13 can also be attached to the ring12 by other coupling means. In another embodiment, the shaft and thering are integrally formed as a one piece member.

The bottom end of the shaft 14 in the embodiment shown has externalthreads 42 for coupling with the base 18 as shown in FIG. 5. Base 18 hasa centrally located threaded hole 44 for coupling with the threaded endon the shaft 14. Base 18 in the embodiment shown has a substantiallycircular shape with a flat top surface and flat bottom surface. Thethreaded hole 44 typically extends completely though the base 18. Inother embodiments, the threaded hole 44 extends only partially throughthe base 18 a distance to enable the shaft to be secured to the base 18.The threaded hole 44 enables the shaft 14 to be removably coupled to thebase 18 for loading yarn onto the device 10. The base can have othershapes and dimensions that enable the base to retain the yarn on theshaft during use.

The sleeve 16 has a substantially cylindrical shape with a hollow axialpassage 46 that enable the sleeve 16 to slide onto the shaft 18. In theembodiment shown, the sleeve 16 has substantially flat ends with thebottom end contacting the top surface of the base 18. The axial passage46 of the sleeve 16 has a dimension to slide onto the shaft 18 and spinfreely while in use.

During use of the device 10, the skein of yarn 30 is positioned on thesleeve as shown in FIG. 4 by sliding the yarn 30 onto the sleeve 16. Thesleeve 16 is removed from the device 10 by unscrewing the base 18 fromthe shaft 14 as depicted in FIG. 4 and sliding the sleeve 16 from theshaft 14. To assist in sliding the skein of yarn on the sleeve 16, aguide member 48 is inserted into the open end of the sleeve 16 as shownin FIG. 5. The guide member 48 has a base 50 with a cylindrical shapethat can be inserted into the open end of the axial passage of thesleeve 16 and retained by a friction fit. The opposite end of the guidemember 48 has a frustoconical shaped portion 52. The guide member 48 isfitted onto the sleeve 16 and inserted though the center of the skein ofyarn 30 to enable easy placement of the yarn on the sleeve withoutsnagging. After the yarn is placed on the sleeve 16, the guide member 48is removed and the sleeve is positioned on the shaft 14 as shown inFIG. 1. The base 18 is then attached to the shaft 14 by screwing thethreaded end of the shaft 14 into the threaded hole in the base 18 toretain the yarn on the device. The end of the yarn is then threadedthrough the eyelet as shown in FIG. 1 for supplying the yarn to the userfor knitting and/or crocheting. The user can extend their arm or handthrough the ring 12 to carry the device and the yarn during use. In thismanner, the yarn is readily available to the user while knitting andretains the yarn in a controlled manner. The sleeve 16 is rotatable onthe shaft 14 to allow the yarn to be fed easily while knitting.

While various embodiments have been shown and described, it will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications can be made without departing from the scope of theinvention as described in the appended claims.

1. A yarn holding device adapted for holding and feeding yarn to aperson while knitting or crocheting, the device comprising: a shafthaving an axial length with a top end and bottom end, the shaft having adimension for receiving and supporting a spool or skein of yarn wherethe spool or skein of yarn is rotatable on the shaft; a handle coupledto the top end of the shaft adapted for carrying the device during useand while knitting or crocheting to allow both hands of the person to befree; and a base removably coupled to the bottom end of the shaft, thebase having a dimension to retain the yarn on the shaft.
 2. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the shaft is fixed to the handle, and the handle hasa circular ring shape with a central opening having a dimension toreceive the arm of the person during use, the handle being adapted forhanging on the arm of the person while in use.
 3. The device of claim 2,wherein the handle has an eyelet extending outwardly for supplying yarnfrom the skein to the user while knitting or crocheting.
 4. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the shaft is removably coupled to the handle by afastener.
 5. The device of claim 3, further comprising a sleeverotatably mounted on the shaft and extending through the skein of yarn,and where the sleeve is removably coupled to the shaft.
 6. A yarnholding device adapted for holding and feeding yarn to a person whileknitting or crocheting, the device comprising: a shaft having an axiallength with a top end and bottom end, the shaft having a dimension forsupporting a spool or skein of yarn; a sleeve having an axial passageand mounted on the shaft and being rotatable with respect to the shaft,the sleeve having an axial length and diameter to support the skein theyarn; a handle coupled to the top end of the shaft, the handle being inthe shape of a ring with central opening having a dimension for allowingthe arm of a person to pass through and being adapted for carrying thedevice by the person during use; an eyelet extending from an outer edgeof the ring-shaped handle, the eyelet having an aperture to receive yarnfrom the skein and supplying the yarn to the person during use; and abase removably coupled to the bottom end of the shaft, the base having adimension sufficient to retain the skein of yarn and the sleeve on theshaft.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein the bottom end of the shaft hasexternal threads, and where the base has a threaded hole for removablycoupling with the threaded end of the shaft.